UFO week progress

Got the Quilts for Kids top finished! I will be basting it tomorrow. I have hot pink thread that will work for quilting, too. 

A few things have come up that weren't on this week's list, of course:

I have to make monkey pj pants for J tomorrow so he'll have them for pajama day on Friday.

For the KCMQG charity project, I still need to make a quilt back and probably will be quilting one quilt, maybe two. These aren't due this week though.

I went to JoAnn's today for batting (I have enough now for the next... 5 quilts) and came home with some fun remnants. One is piratey; I also got a wide wale black corduroy and an embroidered dark gray twill. And I bought a yard of cute corduroy for a fall/winter dress for L. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow.

How about you? Have you made progress on your UFOs?

UFO week, day 1

Welcome to my day 1 UFO report. 
Today I finished binding a quilt that I can't share yet, but it's been in the works for 5 months or so. It's a good feeling, finishing those last few binding stitches. I did a lot of it while watching the first episode of the new season of Bones... it was a good one.

And then I decided I needed to do more, so I threaded the serger and switched it over off rolled hem stitch to regular. (Here's my link to serger rolled hem tips if you want to give it a go! For lettuce edging on knits, use regular rolled hem settings but stretch your fabric as you sew! Try a little swatch first, too.) I sewed up these pajama bottoms for D.

I have to confess that I didn't press the seams on these--on almost any other woven clothing item it's really important to me to press the seams as you go to avoid that homemade (not in a good way) look. But for pajamas, they will be washed soon and then they'll look fine. I need to find my J-sized pattern and make a new pair of pj pants for J... there is a pajama day at school this week and we forgot about crazy hair day this morning (J wanted to participate, the big 5th grader apparently didn't care) so I want to make it up to him with cool new jammies.

I made progress on a couple of quilt projects today, too. I need to decide what to focus on first tomorrow! I have something easy to make that's a gift, I'll do that and then work on something I can blog about as well.

So here's the tally: I started at 15 UFOs, finished 2. But I found another one (darnit) so my total is now 14. Did any of you get some UFOs done today? Or worked on? Want to share just how many started projects you have going? hmm...

I spent time looking at various flickr groups today, thinking about things I'd like to make for people I love. I can't wait to start a couple of things as soon as my UFOs are mostly done!

UFO finishing week

I've decided that this week is going to be a week for finishing some projects! I have been keeping a running list of current projects for a while, and the other day I rewrote it. I still have 15 UFOs. (I had 15 a week and a half ago, I swear I've finished things since then. Oh yeah, started things too.) Thing is, I'm really close to done on at least 5 of them. I just finished a year-old project on Friday , and loved getting that thing done! I have been thinking about maybe making a few/some/couple handmade holiday gifts this year, but I have got to whittle down my UFO pile first. I'm going to shoot for one finish a day to start (yeah that's how ridiculously close I am on some of these things) and see how the week goes.

Here's a list of some of the things I'd like to finish this week:
*pj pants for D that are cut out already
*fall mini-quilt made from this stack of fabric
*linen pants for L (yeah, it's the wrong time of year but they're cut and will only take a little bit of time to finish up!)
*a Quilts for Kids quilt (this one will take some time and effort--top is pieced but still needs borders, and then basting/quilting/binding/mailing!
*one bee block. Maybe two. (one will be my own, for my month in Bee Beautiful)
*quilt back for one of the KCMQG charity project quilts

Ok I better stop there. I'd love to get my unfinished list under 10 in a week. Does anyone else want to join me for UFO week?

p.s. don't forget, IBOL boxes need to be mailed out this week as well! I have my box, just need to spend some time putting it together.

p.p.s. here's my other August quilt block. I was late finishing it and sending it back. It's my first quilt as you go experience. :)

These were great fabrics to work with. I added in the little slivers of blue and red floral along the edges (should have used more, oh well.) It is fabric left over from a dress my mom made for me when I was 5. It had a red pinafore that went over it. (Hey Mom, want to find a picture of me in that dress and scan/email it for me?)

Sew & Tell--Amy Butler

The Amy Butler Sew & Tell linkup at amylouwho this week has been a good incentive for me to finish one of my long-time UFOs. I started this pillow sometime last year--I made 3 out of 4 pillows for my living room couch and big chair and then lost steam for some reason. Today I finished up the last one:

It didn't really take that long, either. The top was pieced already, I just needed to quilt it and make the back pieces (it's just an envelope style back). Here it is with its fraternal twin:

These pillows have quilted fronts with medium weight, white denim as the backing fabric. They are sturdy! The backs are made from quilting fabric "quilted" to the denim again, but with no batting. The overlap on the back is pretty wide, to prevent the back from gapping open and showing the pillow form inside. These were made to fit the pillows that came with my big chair here.

I'm so glad this is done! Maybe next week I'll work on another of my older unfinished projects.

**head on over to amylouwho.com to see all the other Amy Butler sew & tell finishes this week!

Kids' Clothes Sewing Week--birthday shirt and leggings

Here's the scrappy shirt!

I cut these and one pair of pj pants out on Monday, and sewed these up today. I am really happy with the shirt--it is just what I had envisioned. I decided to try a lettuce-edge hem for the first time, and I had to do it twice but I had extra fabric at the hem so it was ok. Too bad we have to wait about a month for her to wear it! (she's not 2 yet!)

The pants here were supposed to be leggings. I had L try them on and they are quite loose. I have a dress from the consignment sale that these are supposed to go with, and I'd like them to fit more like... leggings. Maybe I'll unpick the hems and just take them in--and if that doesn't work, I have enough fabric to try again.

Kids' Clothes Sewing Week

I read about Kids' Clothes Sewing Week on Craft last week and it didn't take me long to chuck my "no new projects" plan and decide to join in. Last night I gathered up fabrics and patterns:

At the very minimum I'd like to make some leggings for L and pajama pants x3 for the boys. D's ankles are sticking out really far in the winter/Christmas pj bottoms I made for him last year. And J can just use D's old pj pants, but I think I have just enough of the monkey fabric for a pair of pants for him. If I have time, I'll make L's birthday scrappy shirt (it's a shirt with pieced sleeves and maybe the front and back will be made of 2 fabrics, too. Kind of like the dresses and shirts here.) We'll see how it goes. I do have some quilty project commitments I need to finish as well, so I'm hoping not to be too pressured by this, but have FUN and finish some quick and easy projects that my kids need.

I'm also signing up for the third installment of Amy's One Thing, One Week Challenge. I'm going to finish a quilted pillow that I started like a hundred years ago.

What are your sewing plans for the week?

fall project thoughts

I just pulled these fabrics. I had an idea for something fall-ish and at first thought I would need to go buy a fall charm pack or something, then I went and looked through my fabric and found these. I'm not sure about the greens in there. I'm trying not to start new projects but I might not be able to resist this one... it should be quick, at least.

And these are some of the shirts I got at the thrift store last week. The "2" and the striped shirts will be for a scrappy birthday shirt for next month's birthday girl. The A-Ni-Mal! shirt, well, I'll do something similar, later, for my 6-year-old. It's perfect for him.

Doll Quilt Swap Received! (and deep thoughts)

Yesterday my DQS package arrived in the mail. I was excited, and then I saw that it was from Kelly, who I actually know! She is in the KC Modern Quilt Guild; we have just talked the one time as far as I can remember, but I hope we will get to be better friends now!

There are a lot of great things about this swap and others like it--I enjoy the process of researching, planning, and making a quilt for someone else, who I hope will really like what I've made. I don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about what's being made for me, but I love the feeling of getting a swap package in the mail, opening it, and seeing what somebody else made with me in mind. If you look closely, you can see hundreds of little confetti hand stitches in part of the solid green fabric in my quilt. It is so pretty, and I know how much time that kind of hand work takes. I love what it adds to the finished quilt. Kelly also included a really fun-looking pattern book and a beautiful Gee's Bend postcard (great, another quilt I'm going to have to put on my to-make list.) Thank you again, Kelly!!

I finished quilting a quilt today, sorry I can't share it here yet, but I had fun with a couple of new machine quilting patterns and was thinking it would be interesting (and Faster!) to make a future swap quilt (or hey, a gift or 2!) with some detailed machine quilting, something more intricate and planned out than what I often do with machine quilting. I was reading a discussion on Alissa's blog, and there was some interesting talk about focusing on improving the actual quilting of our quilts. Something to think about, something I'd like to work on, actually.

I have also been reading some things about living  simply or in a more minimalist way, and I've been thinking I could apply these ways of thinking to my sewing/crafting/quilting life by approaching my projects more mindfully, not rushing, and taking the time to really do my best work. This approach for me might mean (probably, yeah) that I don't have the output that I see on a lot of the other quilting blogs, but that's ok.  I have to consciously try not to compare myself to all the other wonderful making-stuff bloggers out there, because I can only do what I can do. I want to enjoy the work, and I want to push myself to improve my skills. And I have to balance that with the rest of my life (husband, kids, neighbors, church, *exercising*, reading, writing, oh yeah all things homemaking). Balance is good, stressing out about the things I love to do is not.

So... what do you think? I know for me it's difficult to have so many things I'd love to make, right away, and at the moment I'm trying to slow down and finish a whole bunch of started things before I start new things. How do you work towards a balanced life, including making things you love to make (or doing whatever your thing is that you love to do) when you have limited time and lots of things demanding your attention?

The Winner

Ack! I was planning to post this on Friday, but there was thunder and lightning and I had to turn the computer off. And then I've been busy with my family over the weekend... anyway here is the winner and some other sewing thoughts. :)

I had 26 comments on my giveaway post and 35 comments in the two weeks prior (excluding duplicate comments on one post and one comment I made). I had a little system for numbering the comments but I'm not going to bore you with it, just trust me ok?

The winner of a vintage sheet charm pack is...
Freda--Congratulations! Please email me with your address (or give me your email address in the comments), Freda, so I can send you the charm pack!

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I had a couple other things--here are more quilt blocks for the KCMQG charity project.

We needed some lighter pink and green blocks as well as some darker/brighter ones.

Just a little status update on the project--not sure if I've explained what's going on for this project here yet. I have in my possession 10 finished baby quilts and 8 quilt tops that need to be quilted. There are at least 7 other quilts being made by guild members which means we will have a total of 25 baby quilts. They will be given to NICU families at the hospital where my daughter was born prematurely almost 2 years ago. The goal date for these is next month--I'd like to deliver them around Lauren's birthday. We have people lined up and waiting to quilt and bind the remaining quilts and I'm pretty sure we'll be done on time! I am so thankful for all the wonderful quilters in the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild who have helped make this possible! I hope these quilts will give some comfort to families dealing with the challenges that can come from having an infant in the NICU.

Also--Amy over at amylouwho.com is gearing up for a special Amy Butler Sew-n-Tell Challenge on September 24.

In a nutshell, you have until September 24 to finish a current project using Amy Butler fabrics or patterns, and the Sew-n-Tell link-up that day will be only for these Amy Butler projects. There will be prizes, too! Click here for more information. I have a kind of old UFO with some Amy Butler fabric in it, maybe I'll get it done in time for the challenge!

Fall Clothing Sewing

I just read Meg's post about fall trends and style... and wanted to write about the fall clothing sewing thoughts I've been having.

Jean Repair blog. Via craftzine. All my jeans are from the thrift store; one pair is getting kind of worn but they fit me pretty well because I did a waistband/yoke alteration a few months ago. Instead of pitching them because they are almost worn out, I think I will patch them using one or more of the techniques on this site. And, oh yeah. There's also a book. Denim Revolution: Dozens of Ways to Turn Denim Cast-Offs into Fashion Must-Haves. (The book and the blog are written by the same person.) I love the image on the cover. I think I will buy this book.

What else? Something cool for the kids. I am inspired by these recycled, upcycled, patched together t-shirts by Little Overcoat and Janssen designs. I might need to hit Savers to see if I can find a shirt with a 2 on it for my little girl's big day next month.

I'm also wanting to make her a hoodie or two. I'd make them for the boys too but they are both (especially the younger one) not doing very well at wearing the few handmade things they have right now. I really like the Modkid Sydney pattern but I might go through my Ottobre patterns and see if I can use one of them.

I'd like to make a birthday dress for my girl, does anyone have any pattern suggestions? I was thinking about another charm pack dress but I don't know... I think I want to do something different. 

Finally, I have fabric and a pattern for a skirt for myself... I think it might be on the list in the next week or so. It's this pattern, and the fabric is a linen blend with brown and turquoise colors in the print. I might have to get new brown shoes to go with it. And a top, too. 

First though, I have a few quilt blocks to make, some pj pants to repair, quilting to do.

Birthday Fabric

It's been a busy week! I've been feeling under the weather with first a stomach bug and now a head cold... my parents were in town visiting for almost a whole week too, and we've been busy with various house fixing projects (my dad and husband) and sewing (Mom and I finished up some quilt blocks and a quilt top for the KC Modern Quilt Guild charity project.) And, yesterday was my birthday! I had a pretty good day, just wish I was feeling better is all. My parents and Lauren and I went to Lawrence and I got some fun new fabric, and some chocolate and cute little French soaps too. I will be getting a quilting extension table for my Janome for my main birthday gift, too.

I will probably get a few more of the colors of the Meadowsweet henna garden (the swirly print on the bottom there). I think it's so pretty.

For my birthday I also have a small giveaway--a charm pack from my vintage sheet stash. I don't have a photo but it will be about 40 squares with a few repeats. Everyone who's commented on the posts I wrote in the last 2 weeks will have one entry for each comment, and you can also enter by commenting on this post. I'd love to hear about your fall projects... or something funny... or whatever you'd like to share. I'll close comments and pick a winner on Friday.

Reader Projects

I've had a few people contact me with projects they've made from my tutorials and I wanted to share them with you!

A while back, Angel sent me an email with pictures of her quilt made from my Simple Squares pattern. She doesn't have a blog, but said I could share the photos here:

This is adorable; I love the blues, tan, and brown together. She made a matching appliqued onesie, too.

(Oh boo, I can't get the larger resolution photos to work.)

Jo, at The Crafty Nomad, made a cute coaster for Father's Day (hey, didja know that Father's Day in Australia is on the first Sunday in September? I just learned that!) based on my reverse applique tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew.

I love how she used an image and her daughter's handwriting on this. So cute. I've got to try printing on fabric sometime! Jo also made one of these with a heart reverse applique earlier this year.


I also recently got an email from Robyn, who won my giveaway in May. She made a really cute quilt from the Rainbow Brite sheet she won:

She did some hand quilting and some machine quilting on this, and the backing/binding is a sheet from Walmart. I think it turned out really cute!

Have you made any projects from my tutorials? Let me know in the comments... I'd love to feature them here on my blog!

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p.s. don't forget to check back tomorrow; if I get time to post I think there will be a little giveaway. :)

Let's go, Royals!

A few months ago, my husband and boys went to a free t-shirt Royals game... and all the shirts were men's size XL. I cut the boys' shirts apart so I could remake them to fit them, and then got busy with vacation and other summer things. My parents are here visiting us for a few days, and one of the things they wanted to do was go to a Royals' game, so I finally made the t-shirts! It was fun to make a clothing project, especially one that finished up quickly. I just used t-shirts from their drawers as a general pattern; I love how they turned out! They wore them to the game last night--we stayed through all 11 innings only to see the Tigers score 4 runs at the end, and beat the Royals. We did enjoy the fireworks afterward though!

I finally made my first gathered clutch last week, too. I've had my eye on that tutorial for a while; I'm glad I finally made one! The zipper ends gave me a bit of trouble; I hope that part gets easier when I make my next one.

And, here are some selvedge gift tags I made to send with my quilt for DQS9. I sent it off on Thursday and can't wait for my partner to get her package! (I'm watching the mail for mine, too.)

Finished Pillow Shams

I did it! It was looking like I might not finish these by today, but I decided I needed to just do it. 

I really appreciate having Amy's challenge this month--I have a lot of things needing to be finished by the end of August and the One Thing, One Week challenge is a good opportunity to choose something that needs some attention and get. it. done. 

I did work on something that was not on my list, I couldn't help it.

My 9-patches now have all their initial sashing strips sewn on. My Kona crush fabric was delivered last week and I couldn't help but cut into it and get this next step done. Now I need to work on the layout... I have a couple more before-September things to do first though.

In non-sewing news, we have a garden photo or two. This is what happens when you don't pay a ton of attention to the garden because of fear of chiggers (I hate them oh so much.)

The sunflower is getting heavy... it's like a mini-umbrella here. (FYI, it's a Russian Mammoth, if you wanted to know.) It was about 7 ft tall before it started drooping. And you can kind of see the front-yard cherry tomato creeping out onto the sidewalk in the background too.

New York Beauty

Finished up this block for Heidi in our Block Swap 2 group.

The inner curves are challenging to piece! When I made a small quilt with NYB blocks a while back (oh! it was 5 years ago!), I hand pieced the curves. These ones were done by machine, and didn't turn out as nicely as I would have liked.

I am almost done cutting my 2" squares for my turn in Bee Beautiful. I just need to cut purples and a few blacks and greys.

This is about 750 2" squares.

I am a little distracted from sewing--reading my first e-book. (My first, you know, commercial novel-type e-book.) I got the kindle app on my Droid and bought Mockingjay today. I haven't ever read a novel this way before; I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm glad I didn't have to go to the store to get it though, or wait through the library hold list that is about 500 people long.

Iraqi Bundles of Love II

Check it out.

Last year, IBOL guy asked for flat-rate boxes filled with fabric, thread, notions, yarn, or any other sewing or knitting supplies to be sent to northern Iraq. 3,445 bundles in boxes were sent. He's doing it again... can you send a box this year? Or two? Mailing deadline is October 1!

Happy Monday!

We had a busy, crazy weekend here. I spent a large chunk of my Saturday painting a bedroom:

my 10-year-old set up the ironing board at leprechaun height this morning

I am so happy with this color! When I was painting, it reminded me of a paint color from my past, the bedrooms in our tiny house back in the day in Provo. It was lighter than I wanted. But when it dried it was a little darker and it's exactly what I wanted. This is a big accomplishment for me because I did almost all of it myself--I had help from my husband on the tallest parts but I did almost all the prep work on my own and 90% of the painting, too. I got a lot of exercise moving the ladder and going up and down it--my legs were my sorest parts the next morning.

This is going to be my little girl's room, and it will continue to be my sewing/fabric room as well. I can't wait to have my 9-patch quilt finished and laying across the bottom of my little girl's new bed! I am also planning on hanging my collection of doll quilts on one of the walls.

While I was painting, my husband was fixing toilets, one that has been running (the flapper was leaking) for a long time and the other one was making weird groaning sounds off and on. We thought things were pretty good... but found a puddle in the garage (below the master bathroom) on Sunday. So Cory got to spend most of the rest of the day after church working on fixing that. He did call and get expert long-distance help from my dad, and now it seems like that problem is properly fixed as well.

This week has some busy-ness coming up with Back to School night, one night for each boy, a Cub Scout bike ride, dentist appointments for the boys, and then sewing Saturday with my KCMQG friends. As usual, I have a big sewing to-do list, and I'm joining in with the One Thing, One Week Challenge at Amy's Creative Side again. My main goal this week is to completely finish the Mendocino pillow shams. This morning I pin basted, and started quilting:

It's going pretty quickly; I love how the quilting looks so far. I will also be cutting many 2" squares and getting my quilt for DQS9 in the mail this week.

Before

ready to paint in the morning...farewell, yellow!

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pillow shams progress

I finished the fronts of these pillow shams this afternoon--the rest of what needs to be done on them just takes time but isn't really difficult. Layering and quilting, assembling the backs, and then sewing backs and fronts together!

Eileen from Ladybug Lovelies

Recently, I asked my friends Eileen and Diannalynn to guest post for me. They are both amazing, creative women and I'm excited to introduce them to my blog friends (if you don't already know them, that is!) A little background: I first met Diannalynn (aka DL or Dielle) during my first year of college at BYU. We became good friends and were roommates during the (super fun and laid back) summer of 1993, right before she graduated. I first met Eileen, DL's mom, when she came with DL's family to graduation that year. 

Here's Eileen: 

I've always been a crafter.  Mom worked at a toy store when I was little and gave me a set of about six 6-inch dolls I had at about four or five years old.  I can remember making clothes for them then and for a school project at about age 10, I made outfits for those dolls for different eras of history.  Mom taught me to sew on her old Singer machine (which Dad bought her for having me) when I was ten, so I have been sewing for over 50 years.  I have done a lot of different crafts.  Did decorative painting for years--have always loved the feel of well-sanded wood (friends teased me about how much sanding I'd do before painting);  have done a lot of paper crafting--stamping, card making, making paper, scheerinschnitte either patterns bought or ones I designed such as of Mt. Rainier, a family tree, or one from my mother's window.  Am a very tactile person, so texture of papers and fabrics have always fascinated me.  Did a lot of types of needlework and especially loved cross stitch but it makes me dizzy going from pattern to cloth now plus wow, have those stitches gotten smaller and smaller the older I get!

Marabella quilt top

My favorite current project is the Marabella quilt I've done for my newest girlie girl (granddaughter).  It's by the lady at Ivory Spring but I used totally different fabrics.  First saw it in the quilt festival.  Top is done, so it's just waiting for me to get the back done and get brave enough to home machine quilt it.  I hand quilted a very modern twin bedspread for Adam about 20 years ago--bright colored strips that meandered over huge black squares.  Wish I had a picture of it now.  My hands didn't work well for a couple weeks after doing that.  

Victory Garden

My other project I love is the Victory Garden from Eleanor Burns.  Made a king size with black background for my husband, Randy, and he loves it.  My friend Shirley long armed it for me.  I've made over a dozen what I call comfy quilts for all my immediate family and a couple others in the last year and a half.  They're a variation of what my friend called a Fiesta Quilt and backed with fleece.

Sabrina's quilt

My blog is Ladybug Lovelies which DL set up for me last year.  I've collected ladybugs since 1969 when I was just out of college and found a little ladybug crewel kit.  I have loved and collected hearts since about '76 when we were stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, and they were in all the craft shops and stood for good luck.  

Pat's quilt

Turtle Quilt Finished!

I kind of drove myself crazy working on three separate projects yesterday (including repairing a very sad, torn out binding on an old quilt) so I decided I needed to finish my quilt for DQS9 today.

I did the quilting over a few days this past week, and at the end I decided to do the little star stitches in the hexagons because they didn't really have any quilting in them and they needed it. All I had left to do this morning was half of the hexagon stitches and the binding. I am really happy with this quilt. I am still not done with the "twin" quilt that I'm keeping for myself; I'm going to work on it though and make myself get it done before I start my 9-patch finish. It will have different binding fabric, and the back is different too. But it's mostly the same.

Here's the back of this one:

I have a couple weeks until I need to mail this, and I am going to gather some of my fabric scraps and maybe a few small things to send to my swap partner along with the quilt. I'm so relieved to have this done! On to the next big thing!

Gifts

When we were in Utah, my dad let me pick out a couple of bowls from several that he's made recently. He took a pottery class last semester (I think that's when it was) and has also been making wooden bowls and other items. I cleared off a section of my usually cluttered shelf for this photo, but I think I'm going to have it be their permanent home and stop keeping clutter there.

 

I think the hole in the wooden bowl makes it extra unique and just... cool. My little girl likes to take the ceramic bowl down and play with these beads. (They are from a little Thomas train set.) She called them "beans" for a couple days and I try not to correct her when she has adorable incorrect pronunciation, but she says "beads" the right way now already. I love both of these--maybe I should put in a special order with Dad before he and my mom come to visit us in a few weeks.

When we came home from the Utah trip, these pretty fingerless gloves were waiting for me:

These are from my friend Janelle, who is a talented knitter and a genius microbiologist as well. The note she sent with them said to stick them in my coat pockets and they'll be a good surprise this winter. We planned to swap something handmade, sometime last year. She's done her part, and I still need to make her something. I have an idea, and I think she'll like it, as soon as I have time to get to it!

This weekend we are planning on buying paint for my girl's bedroom, maybe starting the painting, and buying a mattress for her too. I think we are getting the full-size bed so it can double as a guest bedroom. Also looking forward to things cooling down a little bit--we have had temperatures in the high 90s (heat index 105-110) for the last week or so, it's getting really old!

Sewing stuff I'm involved in

I am juggling so many projects these days... well always, but I decided to make a list of the current goings-on just for fun. Here are some of the sewing things in my life now and in the near future:

*Charity quilt project for KC Modern Quilt Guild:

My last 2 blocks, in process this morning. They are almost done now... I thought I was done but the last block came 1/2" shy of the size it needs to be so I need to sew another strip onto it.(due today)

*Secret quilt project that I'm going to try to have published--just needs quilting and binding! (due whenever I can get it done)
*Doll Quilt Swap 9 on flickr (must be mailed by Sept. 1)
*Two online quilting bees that require 2-4 quilt blocks from me each month (due at the end of each month)

*Custom etsy order:

This is the start of one of two king sized pillow shams... I love how it's coming together so far. (no deadline really but I don't want to drag it out for too long)

 
*I'm going to sew up something small for the church service auction (Sept. 1) (should I say? ok... I have been admiring Noodlehead's gathered clutch for a few months now, so I'm going to make one for one of my lucky church friends.) I just need to figure out where to fit it in with my other deadline projects.
*And I signed up to make another Downy quilt as part of our next church service project. (I don't have the kit yet so no deadline on this one for now.)
*Oh yeah! One more thing, I need to finish cutting squares to mail out to my Bee Beautiful friends as September is my month. I'd like to mail them sometime in the last few days of August.

As soon as I have time, and have finished the quilt I mentioned above, I'm going to finish up my 9-patch quilt! I really want to use white Kona crush fabric for the sashing and need to find a good source for it. I have sort of (mostly) decided that for a while I am not going to be buying fabrics for any new projects--I want to focus on finishing some of the many UFO projects I have laying around here. I am still trying to decide if I might need to make an exception for my birthday next month though.

More charity blocks, and miscellaneous other stuff

Here are some more of my blocks for our guild charity project. I have 2 more to make by Thursday. I really like both of the pink/green ones here. 

I needed something new for leaders and enders, and decided to make some monochromatic squares from my scraps:

These are made from some of my larger scraps. I decided to make them 6.5" square; I think a bunch of these could make a really cool looking quilt. Or maybe a rainbow table runner. I don't know yet.

I spent some time today hand quilting while watching Bones, and also cutting 2" squares for my bee beautiful group. I have about 130 green squares added to my collection now. 

And last Saturday I finished up the training pants for my girl:

The other two pairs were already in the laundry when I finished all of them up and was ready to take a picture. They fit really loosely until after they were washed and dried the first time, and now the elastic is shrunk up and they fit her just right. The pattern is from Wonderbaby Designs and it's a good one.

I have also been working on a custom order that involves Heather Ross Mendocino fabrics and diamond piecing. I'm making pillow shams to match ones I made last year... and I didn't save my notes. I'm doing my best to make the new set as similar as possible to the old ones, and I'm writing down my measurements in a notebook that won't get lost or thrown out.

It's too hot to cook, again. I'm making breakfast for dinner.

Turtles

I made some progress on my swap quilt this week.I decided to stitch the hexagons to the background by machine as the turtles will be machine appliqued, too. There will be hand quilting though; I found 7 blues and greens in my embroidery floss stash and will try to use most or maybe all of them in some kind of wavy, watery-feeling stitching.

I saw this cute idea in my google reader and wanted to share it: DIY quilting gloves! I love this idea.

I am making waterproof training pants for my girl today... she has outgrown the first group I made for her and some of those I never even finished. So I went a size up and am finishing them one at a time. I finished one so far toda; 3 more are cut out and started.

And I'm in the middle of a big fabric reorganization/purge. I am trying to decide whether I should offer some fabrics from my stash for sale... I have a bunch of vintage sheet fabrics, an Orla Kiely for Target tablecloth and some placemats and napkins, some PUL for diaper covers, and maybe some apparel fabrics that I am willing to part with. Would any of you be interested in any of these?

*I'm linking up at Sew & Tell Friday, go see what everyone's been doing this week!

Charity Quilt Top Completed

It is so hot today. 99 degrees, feels like 106. I have been sitting for a few minutes and am on my second really big ice water so my hair feels like it has stopped sweating. I had a hard time getting started this afternoon but I got going after a little power nap and finished this:

For a while when I was in the middle of making these blocks, I was doing pretty well at using up scraps as I went (see the bottom left corner). But then I laid them all out and decided I needed the last 3 or so to be more calm blocks. I really like the "word" fabric but it was getting too overwhelming in this project--I finished up with a few more blocks with the linen and white outer squares and I think that was a good move.

This quilt is for our first KC Modern Quilt Guild charity project and I secretly hope it will be quilted by Angela. I was thinking about that and then I started worrying if the linen would be a pain to quilt and just hoping it would be good enough. Oh well. I think it would look good with the solid brown fabric used as binding, too.

I have made 4 other quilt blocks for this project and need to make 4 more. Next week is our meeting when everyone is supposed to bring their finished blocks--several members went above and beyond the call of duty and have already made entire completed quilts. I can't wait to see everyone's work!

A couple of other things--my progress has been so slow on my doll quilt swap quilt but it is happening.

These are all ready to be sewn down on white background fabric, two for my partner and two for the twin quilt I'm keeping. I made a mistake in one of these, but I'm keeping it. I think it will add character. There will be turtles appliqued in the middles and multicolored hand quilting, eventually.

And I made my Block Swap 2 quilt blocks, kind of last minute: 

These were fun and quick. I added a couple of my own greens to personalize the blocks a bit.

I have also been cutting many, many 2" squares for my upcoming turn (September) in Bee Beautiful. So far, I have way too many pinks and just enough reds. I will cut another couple of colors out this week and maybe show you a picture of the pretty stacks.

It is almost time for another glass of ice water. And I'm going to have to go to the basement for a while. We are under a heat advisory until 8 p.m. tomorrow. Oh yeah, and should I go vote? I am not affiliated with a political party, so I'm only eligible to vote in the county commissioner primary. Maybe we'll go for a hot voting field trip in a bit here.